In general, aspects of the present invention relate to computer software and computer communication networks, and in particular, to processing and distributing gasoline price data in a networked environment according to geographic location.
Generally described, computing devices, such as personal computers, and computer communication networks may be utilized to obtain and distribute a variety of information. In one widely utilized embodiment, a user may access a computing device having a communication software application that allows the user to transmit textual and graphical messages, often referred to as electronic mail or e-mail, to other users connected to the network. In accordance with this embodiment, the user may direct messages to specific users that are identified by a logical address within the network. In another widely utilized embodiment, a user may access a computing device having a software application that communicates via a global network, such as the Internet, to access information provided other computing devices connected to the global network. In accordance with this embodiment, computer users can access the network to obtain general information regarding a topic by requesting the information from the appropriate source. Additionally, the users can access customized information by including personal information with a request to the external source.
Many external information sources specialize in offering users information that may be of a dynamic nature and of value to the users. In one embodiment, a group of computing device users may share gasoline price information by exchanging electronic mail messages with one another identifying current gasoline price information. However, this approach can become very limited in that user's reporting is often inaccurate or unverifiable and the coverage area of the data is limited to the number of users involved. Moreover, this approach is also inefficient in its ability to widely disseminate the information to a number of users.
In another typical embodiment, a service provider may provide gasoline price information to users on a global network, such as the Internet. In accordance with this embodiment, gasoline price data is collected by users and submitted to the service provider. In turn, the service provider makes the gasoline price information available to computer users requesting the information over the global network. Although this approach may facilitate wider distribution of the information, it remains deficient in that the gasoline price information depends on user input, which may be unreliable. Additionally, the user input may be varied such that the gasoline price information cannot be predictably updated. Still further, because user input cannot be guaranteed, the system cannot accurately calculate statistical information, such as average gasoline price for a geographic area, lowest gasoline price in a geographic area, highest gasoline price in a geographic area, and the like.
Thus, there is a need for processing and distributing geographic location-based gasoline price information, including statistical gasoline price information, via a communication network.